Beyond the Triforce
by The One Called Voice
Summary: Many worlds have many rules, many time lines have just as many different histories, yet there is something no one and nothing can hide from. Every thing has an end, be it evil, be it good, be it a legend that carried on for thousands of years. One force strikes fear in every heart, one force doesn't abide to neither light or darkness. One absolute force, the inexorable End.


_**Beyond the Triforce**_

Ganondorf has been defeated once and for all, King of the Gerudo, The Prince of Darkness, bound to forever defy death as he's not king only with the name, the blood of Demise the Demon King once flowed through his veins together with the Triforce of Power that was bestowed to him, the power of Din. Yes, he, the destroyer, the conqueror, the one whose name brings to mind things so evil that one may die only hearing it, yes indeed, Gandon was dead and this time, no mistake, no force, no power was going to bring him back.

The death of his evil should have made all living creatures in Hyrule rejoice, laugh, sing and dance. For a thousand days and nights wine should flow, songs should echo throughout the whole land, for the gorons in the deep mountains to hear, and the waters of the zoras to vibrate at the sound of victory. All life was free from Ganon's dominance, and all should praise the day he perished for eternity. Yet when the first voice ever said the words 'The Demon King is no more...' no feet crushed the earth with their dance, no voices raised in angelic hymns, no lips smiled that day and no fireworks mocked the stars.

The mouth which spoke those words was bruised, thirsty, stuck to a tired face with wrinkles that each was already touched by a thousand tears, hid by weary eyes that already forgot what sleep meant. Scarce flashes in their washed blue color reminded of the once vivid power that flowed through them. A lock of hair fell over this face, long, white, like the thread of cotton. Through the dust that covered it, one could still see golden braids being waved around by the wind.

'I can't believe he's dead...' the voice said again, watching in the distance. A bright fire was fighting the twilight, that slowly fell over the world. The castle, the pride of Hyrule in flames. All sorts of demons and dark creatures touched the walls of the silent seer, the one who never had anything to say in the destiny of the world, but affected it so much. A symbol of light, often perverted by darkness, yet always standing proud against the winters, always raising its towers before the sunrise and greeting each day with the same stance as a day before, an unwavering stance that shouted to all creation that no matter what, Hyrule Castle will never fall.

And now it was eaten by flames…

'I can't believe...' the voice repeated, the blazes reflecting in the eyes. A shiver corrupted her whole body, she looked away terrified of what she saw. The forest was quiet, empty, black. They were once called The Lost Woods, legends say that terrible things happen to those who lose their way inside those meadows. Indeed, terrible things happen to those who lose. She was leaning on top of an evergreen, one high enough to let her see beyond the margins of the woods. Death Mountain was there, smoking like a cauldron announcing an inexorable fate as it always did when times were rough. The home of the gorons, and the place closest to her heart. There, she first felt the warm embrace of love, the hot kiss of desire, the burning sensation of passion. If she stretched her vision, and mind, far enough she could see the stars reflected in Lake Hylia, she could smell the sands of the Gerudo Desert, even feel the biting cold of Peak Province. Places she saw, places she loved, places that her heart longed to see one more time. She raised her eyes, only the calm sky could calm the feeling of fear that shook her inside. One, two, three...four...tiny spots began emerging from the red blanket that unveiled the sky.

'They are so far away...and still reach us with their light...' she contemplated, losing herself in the grand image of the approaching night.

'To remind us that hope is far away, but still reaching us...Is this why you made them?' she asked the sky. No answer came, as she needed no answer. All the woman did was to keep watching the stars, hoping for hope.

A whistle, the leaves shivered with a swish and after a while the woman, clinging on to the bark, managed to climb down. A few branches scratched her already worn out clothes, the eye symbol on her chest was barely visible. From behind the thick eyebrows, the man's sight met hers telling her it was time to go. Something else was lurking in his dark eyes, wasn't hard for her to guess.

The man took out a small object from his pocket, it was oval and seemingly made out of wood. It had an extremity and a few holes dug in it. He blew inside it, through the extremity and sang a chant sitting on a broken log. A green, damaged tunic was covering his chest, dirty with mud and blood, a pair of trousers and leather boots, gloves, the outfit ending with his head, contoured by the gray beard and messy hair. He wasn't wearing any cap, or helmet, yet attached to his back was a sheath from which a beautiful blue handle, decorated with two wings, was coming out, and a shield, damaged, broken around the edges. Only the faded painting of a crimson bird was staining the old iron. He coughed, and raised, offering the place to the woman.

'Oh, no, it's alright,' she came close to him and pushed her hands against his shoulders. 'You must be tired...after everything that happened...please...sit and rest.'

Her eyes pierced his, made him listen to her demand. He couldn't deny it was feeling good to relax his bones, yet she was more important, she always was more important...the most important person, if not for the world at least for him. She laid by the log, resting her head on his calf.

'This isn't right... So many memories, so many faces and places...And you, you were always there. I feel like we've been born so many ages ago, that you and I were there when time began to flow and ever since I know you. I'm sure, it was like this. Wisdom, courage and power...it has always been us against him...we would always win, and he would always lose, but in the same time he would always come back, moment when a new you and a new me are born. When I first met you, in this life...I felt like I knew you already, when I first saw your eyes they were so familiar, so...dear to me, even if I didn't know your name. I wonder if I felt that every time I met you, across all our lives...every time I touched you, every time we...or maybe you were just my guardian, a close friend and you and I weren't always like this...maybe...or maybe we were always like this, and we were doomed to forget everything whenever we were born again.'

The man didn't say anything, patted her head gently. In his heart, a deep urge to hug her, to feel her close to his chest rose, but none of them moved from their place. They stood like that for a while, when the peaceful silence that settled was disturbed by the crack of a stick. The man's ears picked up the sound and raised, moving his hand on the hilt of his sword, while signaling the woman to stay put. He entered his combat stance, but seeing the two sparkles that came closer from the dense bushes and trees, he lowered his guard.

'Epona!' the woman cheered seeing the loyal animal. 'It sure took you some time, girl.'

The pony neighed at the sight of the two, happiness was visible in her wet eyes. The man stuck his forehead to Epona's, helped the woman mount and then he also climbed on, taking the ribbons.

'She's seen better days...' the woman thought seeing how skinny the pony was, her mane scarce, and her walk unsure. 'She's old, just like us.'

She held him tight in her arms, let her head fall on his back and fell asleep. She had a nightmare, in which the night would fall over the entire world and the sun would fail to ever raise again.

A gloomy mist was floating around, like a steam, creeping around the gloomy trees. The weak light of the stars wasn't penetrating the roof of black leaves, yet the mist had a specific glow, a magic shine to it which created distorted faces, shapes with two ovals for eyes and a dreadful jaw, silently weeping their suffering. The woman woke up, the bizarre mist causing her heart to inexplicably cower in fear. She looked at the man in front of her, his eyes weren't visible from behind, only the rough beard that outlined his face. His sight fixed on the dark path that opened in front of them, as if he found for the smallest glimpse of light possible and tried to reach it with his eyes. The world was coming to an end and yet his aura was calm, focused.

'Courage...yes, unrelenting courage...' she whispered to herself, yet she was sure he also heard.

'Courage and wisdom... Is strange, we died so many times, we cried at each other's graves so many times, we lived our previous lives as if they were our last. But this time is different. You also feel like that don't you? There is no reincarnation after this, I can feel that. So far I always had a feeling, across all the timelines I was reborn in, I had a feeling that I will see you again somehow, and I also had a feeling that I will have to face Ganon again. But now, that feeling is gone. Ganon is gone and I know he won't ever come back, and the same goes with us, doesn't it? Stop, please...'

Epona didn't move any further, hearing her demand. The woman jumped down the saddle and made him a sign to follow her. The man grunted, but did as she pleased. He didn't want waste a single second, something was following them ever since they escaped the castle, he knew it, but didn't say anything to her, didn't want to scare her. She took his hand, and lead the way through the woods, the mist waving as they moved through it. Epona, followed them even if she wasn't told to do so. They strolled around for some time, guided in silence by the woman. She didn't like being so close to the mist, felt like something could come out and attack her.. They reached a wooden bridge, made out of rope and planks, that stretched over a shallow rivulet, yet the rivulet was deep inside a ravine. On the other side, tall grass was growing from which the opening of a cave emerged.

'Your old home...is that way isn't it? The Kokiri Forest... '

She wanted to cross the bridge and went ahead, still holding his hand but she felt pulled backwards, gently. He was looking in the ground, a grave expression sculpted on his face. Seeing this, she forced herself to grin and returned to him.

'I thought you might want to see your old house. You brought me here many times, when we were younger, you remember? All the games and songs, such innocent and cute creatures are the Kokiri...were...One song comes to my mind when I think about them, how was it called...Saria's song? Could you play it for me?'

Again he took out his ocarina, hesitantly put it's whistle between his lips and began singing, a slow, sad song, moving his fingers over the instrument in a lazy fashion. Yet the woman didn't complain, listened to the few repetitions of the song, while gazing in the blank darkness of the cave. She didn't realize when she wrapped her hands around his neck, letting her gray braids fall over his shoulder. The song ended with a harsh sound, one similar to the screech of an eagle who is getting ready to attack his prey. But it wasn't him who made the sound and that startled both Epona and the woman. The old man on the other hand, was quick to mount Epona despite the animal's fear, in a flash to lift the woman up and sprint away. Behind him, a presence, a shadow unlike nothing he's seen in any of his past lives, which was following them. With the corner of his eye he noticed it behind them, a silhouette so slim and shady, rising from the mist, merging with the darkness of the night yet much, much darker and malicious.

'What is that thing?' the woman asked, restraining her shouts of fear. She got no answer, even if the man knew the answer. It was the End, nothing more and nothing less. Epona sprinted with all the speed she head left, and with the sight shifting swiftly across the surroundings, the woman thought she saw a hand holding a blade from the a mist. At some point it looked like they gained some distance, and Epona slowed down. The woman expected that, as the poor pony was old and a run like that must have exhausted it, yet she felt something strange in her breath, a sort of unspoken pain that came out with each gust of air Epona exhaled. The man, also feeling this dismounted, and signaled the woman to do the same. Barely she could distinguish anything around her, the slow glowing mist was scarce in the part of the woods they were in. Even so, she could see something black on Epona's leg, something dripping like…

'Blood! Is she hurt?'

The man, inspecting the leg of his loyal companion, didn't utter anything, but turned his back away and made a few steps. Right then, Epona fell down. Indeed, a deep wound was piercing the pony's left back leg, a blade like cut. Human and animal knew what that meant.

'No...' the woman gasped, sticking her head to the warm belly of the pony, feeling her heavy breaths. In Epona's eyes, a sadness deeper than her wounds was carved, pupils round, big, shaking. Not even her, a poor animal wasn't spared. The man came close, knelt and stretched his hand to her mouth. An orange, dirty carrot was lying in his palm. Epona neighed, somehow happy and ate the carrot, then licked his hand as a gratitude. One more time, the man stuck his forehead to Epona's, then he walked away, letting a long, scary grunt come from his throat, breathing intensely, his fists clenched. The woman could only imagine how much it hurt him to leave his trusted companion behind, that is why she also kissed Epona's neck one more time before going after him. Her eyes were tearing, but she wiped them away, not wanting to let Epona see she was crying.

The pony, watching how her beloved masters faded away in the darkness of the woods, sniffed and raised one of her front legs, waving them goodbye, the taste of the carrots still lingering in her mouth. Then, with calm, she closed her eyes as the mist reached her, covering her body. One last image passed through Epona's mind, the fields of Hyrule fresh green with the sun shining above them.

When castle Hyrule was attacked, everyone thought it was Ganondorf who again tried to overthrow the royal family, but everyone saw it wasn't him who set the city on fire when on top of the castle, stood the Dark Lord's head, impaled in a blood soaked stindard. A dark figure, followed by a gloomy mist, the End who was now following the two. They ran as fast as they could until the mist vanished from sight. They very much prefered the darkness of the forest, even so, they were tired. After they barely managed to escape the burning city, the forest was their last shelter and now even the heavy bark of the trees wasn't safe.

'We need to rest.' the woman said to him, a pain in her muscles and joints reminding her of her age. 'Listen, we won't get anywhere like this...I know you want to protect me, but if you are tired how will you do that? Please, let's rest.'

They found a deku den, abandoned and dirty. It was dug under the roots of a big tree, had multiple chambers attached to the big one, though too small for them to fit inside. The woman went in first, the "hallway" being as big as a tent. The hard earth she sat upon wasn't the most comfortable, quite cold. His embrace would have warmed her, she had to wait just a little longer in that chilly, lonely den. She knew he was going to look around the place, make sure no dangers were nearby, this could take a while as he didn't let one stone unturned, before he considered her safe. The woman almost fell asleep, when finally her wish came true, she felt a heavy arm resting on her waist, from behind, a warm, fragmented breath sticking to her nape.

'Stay close to me...I'm cold, and scared.' she told him. The song of his heart made her feel something weird for what times she was going through, a sort of calm that frightened her.

'You were never the talking type, that's for sure. Sometimes I almost forget what your voice sounds like, if I wouldn't hear it so clear in my mind. So few words you ever said to me, to anyone, yet you only said the words that mattered the I wish you talked more often, but...You always let your actions speak for you, and besides if I would get used to your voice I wouldn't love it like I do. Ah, so many memories flood my head, from this life and the others...so many adventures, so many dangers. And you were always there. Whether we sailed the seas, or if we flew through the skies, fighting evil creatures from other realms, or just the evils of our own world, you my dear were always my guardian angel, my protector.'

He held her tight in his arms.

'My shield and my heart. But most importantly...' something wet dripped from her eye, 'My courage, my power to overcome anything...' tears began wetting the earth beneath her, as she turned around and cuddled to his chest.

'You are my courage...across all these lives you were the one who showed me that with enough courage anything is possible. Wisdom is nothing, nothing without you. Is futile to have the brightest mind, if fear stops me from using this wisdom. But now, everything is futile...your courage makes my heart beat, my wisdom will guide us, but if we face the truth, we lack the power to do anything. We know what we have to do, we have the courage to do it, but we don't have the power.' she stopped to wipe her eyes, then continued as his hand patted her head, 'Only now I see the truth beyond the Triforce. The relic that makes every wish possible, but it only does so if you have all three parts of it. Without all three, nothing can be done...As much as I would like to see the light ahead of us, I can't. The Triforce of Power was destroyed together with Ganon. You know It will come after the rest of the Triforce, after us. After that, there won't be any new sky to see. I guess everything comes to an end...even us.'

They looked in each other's eyes, smiled while tears were flowing rapidly from their eyes which were full of gratitude for everything that happened, everything that they endured together, every victory, every defeat, every embrace.

'Don't go, I beg you...I will lose all my courage, if I lose you. I will lose everything, if I lose you. Don't go, please. If we are meant to die, let us do it together. I want to die in your arms...please...You don't have to fight it, you don't have to protect me from it. All I want is to have you near me until the very last moment of my life. Of all my lives. Please...'

'What you don't realize is that the source of my courage...is you.' the man uttered, kissing her with all the passion he was capable of, the passion he carried with him all the timelines he lived in.

'Please don't!' she screamed behind him as he exit the den heading straight into the mist, drawing his sword and shield.


End file.
